Modern wireless communications systems such as GSM (Global System for mobile communications) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) are capable of transferring various types of data over the air interface between the network elements such as a base station and a mobile terminal. As the general demand for transfer capacity continuously rises thanks to e.g. new multimedia services coming available, new more efficient techniques have been developed in order to exploit the existing resources to a maximum extent. The demand has already been or is at least going to be supplied with WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) interfacing/modulation techniques developed for raising the maximum data transfer speeds achievable.
The same analogy applies to broadband access solutions utilizing either solely or, to say, at least mainly fixed connections, i.e. the local area network may be wireless but other network elements starting from the WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) base station/router are fixedly attached to the rest of the network. Broadband, e.g. xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line), solutions are slowly gaining ground in many industrialized countries. These provide consumers with bit pipes of 256 kbps to 2 Mbps or even more, with the 256 . . . 512 kbps variants being the most popular due to pricing strategies implemented by the operators. Also the forerunner of xDSL, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is still widely in use and is being marketed. Broadband and ISDN connection are used for Internet browsing, email, file downloading and P2P (Point-to-Point) networking, for example.
These uses, applicable also to wireless data transfer initiated by e.g. mobile terminal owners, may create somewhat bursty traffic, and occasionally the existing, although reasonably high-speed, modern data access means do not cope with the amount of the traffic causing either annoying dropouts in the real-time data playback or just increase the transfer delay to an intolerable level.
See FIG. 1 for illustration of the solution disclosed by publication WO98/56181 comprising means (“interactive channel”) for controlling downlink DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) stream 122 of >2 Mbit/s by utilizing a common GSM terminal, either a typical external model or a built-in version, as an uplink data transfer tool with the DVB set-top-box 114 connected to television 116. The GSM terminal transmits control signals 118 by, for example, embedding them into SMS (Short Message System) messages in uplink direction to be forwarded via a base station 104, BSC (Base Station Controller)/MSC (Mobile Switching Centre) 102 and network 106 to interactive centre 108. Interactive centre 108 then provides distributive central 110 with related control information in order to affect the transmitted broadband service delivery as desired. The GSM terminal thus enables relatively simple control to the subscriber even if DVB set-top-box 114 or network 112 in use does not support return channels of fixed type.
However, notwithstanding the various existing data transfer arrangements that may even utilize different type of data connections, situations may still occur in which the available basic data transfer capacity does not suffice to transfer data to the user equipment, such as a desktop computer, with a reasonable speed or latency.
Earlier, ISDN users have had the option to stack two 64 kbps pipes to acquire double capacity for a session. Disconnecting the other ISDN pipe has required interruption of the session and re-initialisation with a single pipe, which has been done manually. Internet access through wireless protocols has been limited mainly to use during travel, although some users use a flat-rate GPRS connection as their only Internet access method.